The Flame Healer
by pendragoness
Summary: While stopping for supplies, Sokka is...Sokka and picks up a giant birds egg. The bird is NOT very happy and when it attacks him, Katara's healing has no effect. The only person who can save him is a girl who most villagers call the flame healer.


**Hi! This is my first Avatar fic!...it's gonna be a little weird. Also: If I mess up, don't hesitate to scream at me through a review or a private message! Oh, and Toph is NOT in this fic. Let's just say that I don't like Toph… Here goes nothing…**

Katara ran a hand through her hair, balancing a heavy basket on her hip with the other. They had stopped for supplies in a small village, and Aang was now preoccupied with solving one of the peoples many problems. They had been given lodgings with the wealthiest family in the village, in fact, the only one with a room to spare. It was at the door of this building that she first saw her brother, carrying a ridiculously large neon orange egg.

"Look! Katara can you believe this! I was just walking around and spotted this baby! It was in a bird's nest tucked in a corner! The villagers just left it there! And then they complain about starving…" he ranted, "How many omelets do you think we can make!"

Katara eyed the egg nervously. It was three times the size of Sokka's head and something told her that the villagers had had a reason to leave it in the bird's nest.

A large menacing bird came streaking down the street. It was definitely big enough to have laid the orange egg. Its feathers were a deep blood red with orange streaks on its wings. Its talons could be mistaken for daggers and its hooked beak looked equally dangerous. Sokka never saw it coming. The bird dug its talons into Sokka's shoulders, furiously pecking at his head, drawing blood. Katara shrieked, running to her brother, water whip in hand. The bird cried out, jumping away and the water hissed through the air again.

The bird took off down the street squawking for all it was worth and Katara quickly turned to her brother, forming the glove of water around her hand. It began to glow as she placed it over the deep scratches. But something was wrong. Katara frowned, feeling the prickling sensation begin at her fingertips. She watched in horror as her glove of water turned red and jerked her hand from her brother's shoulder, flinging the substance that now coated her hand away. It sizzled as it hit the ground, smoking. Worst of all, her brother was still bleeding. Her healing it seemed had made no difference at all.

"So you have never met a kabilo bird, eh?"

Katara turned yet again to face the old man. He lived in this village she knew that much, and she shook her head in reply.

"Aye, then listen closely. Kabilo birds are violently protective of their eggs and their young, as you can see," he gestured to Sokka. "When you rob their nests, they remember. Twenty years from now, if that one saw you, you would be attacked. And the wounds they inflict are dreadfully hard to heal. For as long as I can remember, my people have known no way to avoid this, with so many kabilo's about and so few food sources. However, three years ago we were blessed with the arrival of a girl whose power can not only heal the wounds inflicted by the kabilo birds. She can ward you from further attacks," the old man spoke reverently in hushed tones.

Seeing her brother's pale face, Katara felt a pang of desperation. "Who? Where?"

The old man pointed. "Go straight to the end of this street and then turn left. Three doors down you will find her place. It's hard to miss."

"Thank you sir," she said fervently, and hurried her brother down the path.

As she reached the corner, Aang ran up, questions written all over his face.

"What's going on?" he asked. Seeing the blood and Sokka's appearance he gasped. "Sokka?"

"Rest…minute…"

Katara quickly explained everything to the avatar, and Aang helped her support Sokka, on the last few feet to the house. Sokka collapsed on the path, a few feet from the door. Katara ran to it, knocking hard and fast. No one replied. Feeling her desperation resurfacing, she pushed the door open slightly.

"Please, my brother! He can't go any farther! He-"

"Bring him in," the voice was young, feminine, and totally the opposite of what Katara had expected.

Katara returned to her companions and together, she and Aang lifted Sokka up and into the house.

"Put him on the cot."

Katara and Aang obeyed, not looking at the speaker and Aang quickly closed the door. The room was dark, windowless, lit only by a fire in the center of the room and what looked like thousands of candles, all around. But they weren't candles. They were flames, many tiny flames. But that wasn't the end of the strangeness. The flames were…frozen. Each one seemingly trapped in one position, glowing eternally.

"Do you like my frozen flames? Just an indulgence really, you may take some if you like."

Katara looked up finally and when she did her breath caught in her throat. She had been expecting someone older, maybe someone like Aunt Wu, or at least an adult-like figure. A petite girl sat in the center of the room by the fire. Her skin was pale, her hair dark, and when she looked up, Katara met deep golden eyes. Not like Zuko's color, Katara reflected. This girl's were deeper, darker, and much friendlier. Aang, who had also looked up, would've bet everything that he owned, including Appa, on his hunch that she was a firebender.

She gestured to Sokka. "My name is Azana. Now would you like me to help him, or will you sit there staring all day?"

**Yay! The first chapter is finished! All reviews welcome (flames included)! REVIEW!**

**pendragoness**


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